St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-05-08
In DAYS GONE BY.
Interesting Account OF Old Mis-
sissippi River Steamers.
Incidents Told to a Globe Man
by an Old Captain.

YES" said Capt. Ii. w. Duncan, OF
La Crosse, as he leisurely tipped back
his chair, "that picture on the wall rep
reSents me, but I'm a good deal more
substantial now than | was then; have
more breadth of beam and my tonnage
is greater. When that picture was made
steamboatin' was lively, and Davidson's
yards out there turned out lots of hand
some craft. Now the bones of most of
them are lying deep in the Mis-
sissippi, or decaying on the sand bars"
"What? You'd like to know what be-
came of the old boats? Well, I'll see if
| can remember. If | go way back to
IA, you'd perhaps go out and pull the
Annie .JOhnson's bell that lies over in
the ship yard, but here goes. Among
the earliest boats on the river were the
the Highland Mary No. 2, the Dr..
Franklin No. 2, the Nominee (she
sunk just below La Crosse in the '50s),
the Excelsior, the West Newton, the
Greek Slave, the Tiger, the Caleb Cope,
the st. Paul, the Ben Campbell, the
Black Hawk, the Jenny Lind, the Mar
tina No. 2, the Luella, the Enterprise,
the Regulator, the Clarion, the Asia,
the Shenandoah, the Grand Prairie, the
Die Vernon, the Hindoo, the Humboldt,
the Lunette, the lola, the lone, the Hen
rietta.
THERE WAS TIE FRANKLIN STEELE,
the first boat that Commodore Davidson
sent up to st. Paul to run against Louis
Roberts Time and Tide, and Jeanette
Robert and the Galena Packet COM
pany's boats. The Franklin Steele ran
on the up-river trade for some years in
conjunction with the Favorite, the COM
m0dOre'S second boat, but was finally
wrecked at Winona. Her engines and
cabins were taken off and put on the
Addie Johnson. The FavOrite carried
the first settlers from Cincinnati to
New Ulm, and during the In
dian war of 1862 carried troops
and supplies to Camp Pope. on
fate in Black river, where the wind
wrecked her. Louis Robert used to say
of his boat, "Ze time and tide wait for
no man, but wait half hour for woman"
The Itasca burned at Paducah, Ky. /
went after her boilers and machinery,
which were put on the Belle of La
Crosse. The Northern Belle just at
that time was wrecked and her
cabin became the cabin of the
Belle of La Crosse. The Northern
Light was sunk in Coon Slough in 1867
on her second trip. The MuScatine was
wrecked from age in Black river, near
DaVidson'S yards. The Grey Eagle
struck on Rock Island bridge and sunk.
The Burlington was sunk above Wa
basha; she was afterward raised and
her hull used as Il wharf boat at St.
Louis. The Mcclellan was chartered
by the government during the war, and
took part in the bombardment of Island
No. 10, DanielSonville and PittSburg
Landing.
1.-The Mcclellan was changed into the
City of st. Paul and finally was wrecked
in Black river, near La Crosse. The
Milwaukee was towed from La Crosse
to St. Louis and sold to the wreckerS.
The hull of the Northern Belle (she
sunk near DavidsOn'S YARDS was tOwed
sunk to keep the Mississippi
FROM FLOWING THROUGH A SLOUGH.
1.-The G.. II. Wilson was sunk near
Dresbach, The Clara Hine sunk dur
ing a storm on Lake Pepin, was raised
and towed as far as Beef Slough, where
she sunk again and was abandoned.
The Key City was taken around to the
Ohio river to be built over. Her ma
chinery came back and was put on the
Belle of La Crosse, as the ItaSca machin-
cry proved to be poor. The Hudson was
sunk just below Gutenberg while tow
ing a raft. The keokuk was sent below
and sold there, as was the Countess. The
Julia was sunk in the Minnesota river
The Tom Jasper was changed into the
Centennial. The Ariel. Capt. Hough.
tons boat, was sunk at Clinton bridge
Commodore Davidson got her machinery
out through the ice. The War Eagle
was burned here at the La Crosse wharf
| just after she had arrived, and along
with the War Eagle the wharveS, eleva
tor and freight house went up in smoke.
A young lady was burned to dealt
on the boat. The Ocean Wave
caught fire in Lake Pepin ant
was run ashore and sunk a
Frontenac. The S. S. Merrill was
burned at Warsaw, ILL.,, ten years ago
The Golden Eagle, a sister boat to thu
| War Eagle, burned just below Warsaw
The Gem City burned in st; Louis: The
Savanna was wrecked. The Galen;
burned at Red Wing, MINI. The JOIN
Rumsey blew up near st. Paul. Th'
Jennie Baldwin, the Davenport and til,
Rock Island were sunk in the ice gorg,
at st. louis in 1877. The Continental
was also sunk then, but is still atlOat
The OSceola, on a trip to Miles City
Mont, got in cyclone at the mouth o
Powder river and had all her uppe
works blown Off. The Savanna toweC
her as far as Kansas City.
WHERE SHE SUNK AND WAS LEFT.
'.The old Diamond 10 was wrecked a
wharf boat there. The Belle of l.;
Crosse was burned at Alton, ILL.,, slough
The Hamburg, owned by Snyder, OF
Fulton, H., had queer experience. IL
| 1858 she was sunk at the head of Lake
Pepin. While she was under waite
Snyder traded her for some land to ;
WacOuta man. He turned her ashore
built hull, and called tie new craft the
Minnesota afterward ,ler machinery
was put on the Kit Carson. The HI
Carson was the first boat ran on thu
Mississippi. The Phil Sheridan broke
i'll two while she was being launched
sons. Her machi merry and part of tn,
cabin was taken to Lake Minnetonk;
and became part of the Belle of Mime
tonka. The Phil was always oil
time. After the Sucker State wa
wrecked her hull became a wharf boa
at Chester, Ill. The Brilliant was
down river handsome boat. She brough
the Sixth Minnesota regiment home
from the war in August, 1865. The ole
Davenport'S engines are in the base
ment of Davidson's opera house i'll st
| raul. Inc Steamer Victory lOok IRON
ST. Louis in 1877 up the Missouri and til,
Yellowstone to Miles city with govern
ment supplies. At the mouth of til,
Yellowstone we met the Fletcher comins
out with a sad party on board-ollcer
in charge of the remains of Gen. CuSte
and six of his officers. When we cam,
down from Miles we brought two more
Them railroads has played the ID will
SteambOatin'. If the railroads coul,
have left the river alone and kept ava.
from it should still be OH a handsome
craft instead of being ashore here, gainin
much flesh and little money"